Can Imported CEO Fix Russian Cars?

NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia—Bo Andersson once was a top executive in Detroit, overseeing a $125 billion purchasing budget as General Motors Co.'s global purchasing manager. Today, the 57-year-old Swede is knee-deep in reviving a small Russian truck maker in a sign of how the global auto industry is changing.

In 2009, he was recruited from GM by mercurial Russian metals tycoon Oleg Deripaska to turn around GAZ Group, a moribund...